USCIB Urges US Government to Avoid Revoking Permanent Normal Trade Relations for Chinese Products 

USCIB submitted comments this week to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in response to an investigation into the economic impacts of revoking permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China. The investigation is in response to a request from Congress, which is weighing legislative action against China. 

In its submission, USCIB asserted that revocation of PNTR is an overly blunt instrument that will have significant impacts on US supply chains, prices, and US operations. It points to a 2023 US-China Business Council commissioned report by Oxford Economics on this topic, forecasting an erosion of US economic competitiveness due to inflationary impacts on manufacturers and consumers, job and productivity losses, and the additional impact of potential retaliatory measures from China.    

“Based on the current structure of US-China supply chains, we expect PNTR revocation to have particularly acute impacts in industries where China has been a stable source for intermediate inputs and finished consumer goods and where near-term substitution is constrained by capacity, qualification, and regulatory requirements,” said Alice Slayton Clark, Senior Vice President, Trade, Investment, and Digital at USCIB. 

If Congress considers changes to China’s PNTR status, we urge that the approach be narrowly tailored to address specific economic , coordinated with business, aligned with allies, include transition times for complex supply chains, allow for exemptions, and avoid compounding, overlapping tariff stacks that can unintentionally penalize US production.